All language subtitles for Banged Up Abroad - Season 14 Episode 5 Thai Ice Storm

I remember seeing, like, the wall.

I just didn't know what was on the other
side.

That was the scary bit.

I knew I could be killed at any minute.

Looking back, I had no idea what I
wanted to do with myself.

But in Thailand, it's literally party
time on steroids.

It feels like you are in control, but
ice was controlling me.

I had a split second, you know, to make
my mind up as to what I was going to do.

It is dangerous to think you're
invincible.

In 2010, I was 21 living in South
London.

I had no aim as to where I wanted to
get.

where I wanted to be in life. I felt
very lost.

I had no idea as to what I wanted to do
with myself.

I couldn't hold a job down. I was
drinking.

I was also lacking a role model.

When I was eight, my mum and dad
separated, and that had quite a big

me.

My dad actually ended up moving to
Thailand, which...

due to how close we were, it just
completely broke me, to be honest.

He was sort of like, you know, my hero,
if you like.

I wanted him around, and he wasn't
there, you know what I mean, when I

him, especially the bond and the
closeness we had.

So I was angry at him for that.

It caused me to go off rails a little
bit, just getting up to stuff that I

shouldn't be at that age.

And then one day, I got a call from my
dad asking me, how would you feel about

coming over to Thailand and working in
my bar?

You know, I had a complete rush with my
whole body. I was like, yeah, 100%. I

could actually finally go and be with my
dad and, you know, reunite again. It

was just an amazing feeling, to be
honest.

It was a chance to rebuild our
relationship and, you know, make up on a

lost time.

For the first time in a while, I knew
something that I definitely wanted to

And that was to go and see my dad and be
with him in Thailand.

So when I first landed in Bangkok, the
heat just hit me.

I've never been so far away from home.

I've been to Europe, but this was
completely different.

Jumped in the taxi.

to Pattaya, which is where my dad's bar
was, right by the coast.

No comparison to South London. I mean, I
was used to, like, chicken nuggets or

whatever, and then get over there and
they've got these different bugs they're

cooking.

It was so much to take in in such a
short space of time.

The cab stopped right outside my dad's
bar.

And then I saw my dad.

Then that was it.

It was just the best thing in the world,
just to give my dad a real hug.

I just felt like, this is it now, I'm
going to be here for a long time, and

going to be here with my dad.

That night...

He sort of pulled me to the side to have
a conversation.

Listen, Rhys. And he just said that...
There's criminals from all sorts of

backgrounds. And a lot of them drink
here in my bar.

Which is fine. Because they've got a lot
of money.

He'd sort of say, look, see that person
there, you know?

He used to sell a lot of drugs back
home.

Well, it seems like crime pays over
here. He just said to me, do not get

involved with those dealers of drugs in
this country.

You can get life for drugs in Thailand.
If only I'd listened to my dad.

I would have saved myself from a world
of pain.

I was working shifts every day. I was a
bit like the centre of attention.

I think because I was the boss's son.

I loved that.

I was attracting more youngsters to the
bar and, you know, they'd be on the

shot.

Everything was great.

Hey,

who are you?

It was this one day that this girl May
sort of introduced herself.

Real bubbly character.

I think she wanted to be that sort of
older sister figure and guide me a bit.

was like, yeah, brilliant.

I couldn't wait to get stuck into it, to
be honest.

It's literally like party time on
steroids, you know. There's just so many

clubs and go -go bars packed in a small
area.

You just don't know where to look.

I was like a kid in a candy shop.

One of these expats said to me,
surrounded by beautiful women, got drugs

want it.

And then he said, do you want to go and
have a line in the toilet?

Deep down I was like, oh my God, I've
never done anything like that before.

I did notice that this expat guy would
have nice clothes, thousands of pounds

off of jewellery. He was a dealer.

And I thought, you know, I wouldn't
mind, you know, a piece of that.

My dad was paying me about £150 a week,
so it wasn't like a lifestyle that these

expats was living.

I think that's what interested me a bit
more.

So, despite the warning that my dad gave
me, I decided to start selling cokes.

behind my dad's back, in his bath.

I bought, like, a few grams from this
expat.

I just thought, as long as I'm careful,
I don't see any reason why I wouldn't

get caught.

I was very cautious because I knew what
my dad would be like if he found out.

And I was like, this is easy.

I couldn't resist that forbidden fruit.

At no point did I think that it would
cause any harm or, you know...

any hurt to any of my family.

I managed to get away with it for a
while.

But one day... That basically busted me.

He said to me, like, what do you think
you're playing at, doing this in my bar?

It's taken me years to get to where I am
now, and I don't want you completely

wrecking that. I'm booking you a flight
for tomorrow.

You're going, mate, and that's it.

I know, you know, my heart's just sunk,
and I'm like, oh, my God.

A lot of that anger was coming out at
that point, yeah.

I was thinking, you haven't been around
for so many years, but yet you're now

telling me what I can and can't do.

So I said, you can't make me go home.

I'll stay here. So I remember getting my
stuff together, and I just left.

It wasn't even a goodbye.

I knew I was going to prove to myself
that I didn't need him.

When I moved out of my dad, the person I
turned to was May.

What are you doing here?

Come on in.

I lost my job at the bar, which is
obviously my main source of income, so I

needed to find something else to do. I
am not going back to London.

Take this. Sit down.

She was like, look, I could set you up a
bit.

Doing what?

Selling ice.

Selling crystal meth, which they call
ice over there.

All the girls are working in the club.

May told me working girls take meth to
stay awake and take the pain away.

And I can guarantee you... You're pretty
safe to go and sell in the strip clubs

and stuff because they'd paid off the
police.

She said you could buy a gram of crystal
meth for about 1 ,500 baht and we'd go

and sell it on for 3 ,500 baht.

Might be looking at around, you know, 8
,000 pounds that you'd get back from

that. Quite a bit more than what I was
getting from the coat.

Look at you.

Are you in?

Me and May, we'd known each other for a
fair amount of time now, so I did trust

her, yeah.

I was like, yeah, let's do it.

She said, we have to go to Bangkok then.

It's a big step up to, you know, what I
was doing.

If I did get a call, I was going to be
in serious trouble.

I knew that if it's a certain amount in
Thailand, you can get life in the death

penalty.

As we drove into Bangkok, I'm already
nervous. I haven't even got the stuff

me. We're going down these little back
streets.

It's getting more and more seedy, the
places we're going.

And then we approach this small hotel
and Mae said, give me your money and

go and do the deal now.

And off she went.

I just see her go into the hotel.

And I was waiting quite some time.

I think, you know, about an hour went
past.

And in that hour, you know, I'm getting
more and more anxious.

And then I was thinking, has she gone
off with my money?

All sorts of things were running through
my mind.

There was a police car that drove into
the street.

I'm thinking, you know, was that for me?

I was bricking myself.

Finally, May comes out.

So I said, where's the stuffing?

She was like, don't worry, don't worry.

She'd taped all this crystal meth to her
leg.

And I was like, OK, well, you've got
this under control. You've already done

this before.

Just give me your hand.

Come on.

May could tell how anxious I was.

She put some coke on me, on my hand, and
I've done a bit of that.

You see?

We've started our journey back to
Pattaya now.

I was still scared, to be honest. Doing
the coke didn't help at all, just made

my nerves ten times worse.

And then up ahead I've seen police.

It's a checkpoint.

Now I feel in a complete state and got
all the 200 grand of ice in the car.

My mate was like, don't worry, just say
hello and be polite.

I'll do the rest.

As he got closer and closer, I'm getting
more and more nervous. You know, I'm

sweating now.

My heart is just beating so fast.

He said, where are you going?

I said, oh, we got to Pattaya.

I'm on holiday.

He said, good, Thailand?

I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Very good.

I'd had a line of coke. I was pumped
with adrenaline.

My eyes would have definitely been
dilated.

So I think, has he noticed that? Or, you
know, why is he continuing to look at

me?

Get out.

Get out. So many times I've taken risks
in my life, but I really took this to

another level and it was just completely
off the scale. I was well out of my

depth.

You get out the car now. Out!

I thought, there's no way out of it.

Get out.

Get out.

I was like, well done, mate. You've
really picked on now.

You get out the car now. Out!

And then, thank God, mate took over and
started speaking to him.

Didn't have a clue what they were
talking about.

And then I saw his hand go like that to
me and then sort of sent us forward.

I think literally we got about 50 yards
up the road and I just shouted.

See, I told you, man.

It was a big relief, but at the same
point, that really brought it home as

you know, how serious this is, what
we're doing.

We'd done the hardest part and we'd...
We'd got the stuff.

It was a good feeling to know that
selling all this ice in Pattaya is going

turn into a lot of money because now
I've gone up a level. The little

I'd roll them up into like a little tube
shape, put an elastic band on them and

hide them in my shorts.

So that was it, I was on a mission.

I'd gone to this strip club that made a
lot of the girls there smoke crystal

meth.

So I thought this wasn't a bad little
spot, to be fair, to start off.

And then this Thai guy came over to talk
to me.

I think he noticed that I wasn't your
typical tourist and that I hadn't come

there for the girls.

He asked, what are you doing here?

And I said, mate, let's hit this place
off to, you know, do some business.

He said, you know, mate, that's cool.

To really sort of sweeten things up.

I've given him a bit.

It broke the ice and we became friends.

Said his name was O.

He was quite a mysterious sort of
character, but we'd built up a bit of

He became one of my regular customers,
actually.

That night, I think I managed to sell
five of the little bags that I'd made

As soon as the exchange happened, I got
a real buzz off it. I got a real kick

from doing it, and I was like,

This is easy.

Over the next few months, I've hit the
streets of the site, hopping from bar to

strip club, just whizzing around,
getting rid of all this crystal meth I

making loads of money.

I was cocky and confident.

I was taking big risks, but the
lifestyle that I was living at the time

than worth it, living the dream in
paradise.

But the world that I was living in just
wasn't reality.

I was just so naive.

It'd probably been a few months, I
think, since I'd actually seen my dad at

point.

I remember one time I'd gone past my
dad's bar, and I looked in, and

I'd seen my dad in there, and I was
thinking, You kicked me out.

But I can stand on my own two feet now.
I am earning my own money.

But again, without my dad in my life, I
lost sight of what was important and my

morals, which went out the window.

At that point, I didn't realise, but
everything was slowly, you know,

deteriorating, to be honest.

Now I've got to the point where...

I'd got rid of all this ice that I'd
picked up from Bangkok.

I had to make the decision as to where I
was going to get it next.

You know, I wasn't up for going back to
Bangkok.

After the last time, I thought, I need
to get someone a bit closer, in Pattaya,

hopefully.

May made lots of calls and eventually
found someone local that could supply me

with, you know, the bigger amount that I
needed.

I made the arrangement to meet up with
this guy in a hotel that was quite out

the way.

And everything was in place.

On the way to the hotel, I bought a pack
of the small fillable bags that I used,

you know, when I'm breaking all the
drugs down.

So I checked into the room number that
we agreed on.

I've got the money that, you know, I've
got to buy the drugs. We've got them

bags.

But... The guy wasn't actually there.

I wasn't sure if I could 100 % trust
this guy.

You know, I'd only ever spoken to him on
the phone.

I was starting to get, you know, a bit
sweaty and worked up and, you know,

feeling really anxious. You know, I'm
wondering what's going on, why's he not

turning up?

And then the next minute, I was at the
door.

Bang, bang, bang.

I can see two police officers.

A heart has just, like, dropped to my
stomach.

I've, like, ran in, like, a mad panic.

I've pushed one of the ceiling tiles up
and I've put the money there and, you

know, the bags that I'd literally just
bought.

I opened the door and the police just
barged straight in.

They were shouting, which means, you
know, where's the drugs?

And I was like, I don't have any drugs.
I don't have drugs.

As if I hadn't got a clue what they were
talking about.

But what I did know is that...

This dealer could be turning up at any
point with the crystal meth.

Then they were saying, which means,
where's the bag?

And I was like, I don't know what you're
talking about.

He said, you buy a bag from shopkeeper.
We know, we know.

My hands were sweating. My heart was
just pounding through my chest.

And I thought to myself, really, get out
of this one, mate.

There's looking everywhere. They're just
turning the room upside down.

I was just praying, please, God, please
do not let this dealer walk through the

door now.

This could be the complete end of me.

All I kept thinking was, I've got to get
rid of these guys, you know.

I just need to get them out of here.

I pointed to the ceiling and they said,
OK, get them.

You lie.

Why you lie?

Why you lie?

Why you have this bag? You sell.

They said, we take you police station.
You go monkey house, which is what they

call prison there.

I said, fine, 30 ,000 baht.

So I was like, okay, you know, I'll give
you money, no problem.

It was about 600 pounds.

And he said, okay, finish now.

Be careful.

I was like, wow, like, is that it?

That was me learning how things worked
over there, how corrupt it was at that

point.

So I'm watching the police guy drive
off.

And the dealer walks through the door.

He said, I saw the police, so I stayed
away.

At that point, I thought, he's all
right, he's a good guy.

I was like, thank you so much.

And then he said to me, you still want
the drugs?

I sort of laughed. I was like, do I? And
I was like, yeah, go on then, give it

to me, yeah.

After I bribed the police, I hit it
harder than ever at that point.

I was literally like going around
selling seven days a week, you know,

around the clock. The money was coming
in as fast as it was going out.

Turnover of thousands and thousands.

There was no stopping me at that point.

It made me think that, you know, even if
I get caught, there's no way I'm going

to prison because I could just pay my
way out of things.

I'll be fine.

It is dangerous to think you're
invincible.

I rented this massive villa with a
swimming pool.

It was just real luxury, and I just
thought, I'm going to go for it.

I went on a bit of spree, having parties
there, and there was obviously loads of

drugs flowing around.

There was girls, there was music. It was
just buzzing. It was crazy.

And I started using my supply as well,
crystal meth.

I just thought, everyone else is doing
it around me, I'll just get in the

moment.

But it just got heavier and heavier
pretty quickly.

It got to the point where I'd wake up in
the morning and...

That'd be the first thing that I'd think
about, you know.

When I started, I had this rule that I'd
only sell to girls and expats and the

bars, but now I pretty much sell to
anyone who had money.

People were starting to come to the
house to collect stuff.

Just real careless, I think, yeah.

I was literally just living in that
moment and I was not thinking about the

following day.

I was just in this bubble now.

Like a big downward spiral.

Addiction, I mean, it just feels like
you are in control.

But ice was controlling me.

I've been in Thailand for more than a
year.

One day, I've sort of come round in the
morning, you know, my head's just all

over the place, and who walks in out of
the blue?

It's my dad.

I hadn't seen my dad for so long, like
probably about six months.

And he said, mate, you look like
absolute... He said, look, Rhys,

what you're doing.

I remember just feeling awful, you know,
my dad seeing me in that state.

And he said, you need to stop this.

He's like, I worry about you every day.

I just sort of wait to get this phone
call that you're dead or, you know,

locked up.

He said, I just dread that call.

You can move back in with me.

Get yourself straight again, mate. That
was the moment that changed things for

me, and I thought, yeah, I'm going to
stop this, and I'm moving back in.

So, yeah, I remember saying, look, Dad,
I'm going to stop it all.

I need to hear.

It was a bit teary, but it was a good
moment.

I said, let me get all my stuff sorted
out here, and we agreed that I would go

back. See you at the bar later, yeah.
OK, perfect.

And then he went.

See you later, Dad.

But just as he was leaving, I was walked
in.

They've literally crossed paths.

He said, Reece, can you sort me some
stuff out? And I was like, I'm done. I'm

not going to be selling anymore.

No, no, I've got people waiting.

I was like, listen, that's it for now.
I'm calling it a day now.

He's like, please, just this one last
time and then I won't bother you again.

I thought to myself, I probably could do
with a little bit more money. I've got

customers. I've got people waiting. Just
before I do go back to my dad's and

live. So I thought...

Yeah, maybe I will just do this last
one.

Fine, one more time.

And, yeah, that was a big mistake.

So we went across town.

We had to go to an area where it was
quite run down.

One of my trusted suppliers were
actually dealing from one of the

there.

I said, just give me the money. I'll
literally be five minutes.

So as my supplier was getting the stuff
ready for me, I walked over and I could

see O strolling about on his phone.

I was thinking, come on, hurry up.

I just wanted to get it all done.

I walked out of the apartment and I
said, OK, let's go.

And he's like, I see it first.

No, just go. He's like, no, no, I want
to see it.

And I was like, for God's sake. So I've
just shanked him out and I've just held

him in his face. I'm like, there you go,
there, you're happy now.

He got the keys in there, but wouldn't
start the bike.

And he was literally completely ignoring
me. And I was like, you know, what's

going on? What's I playing at?

That was when the alarm bell started
ringing.

At that point, I've seen this truck
coming down.

Suddenly, the doors slid open.

This is not your normal police. This is
like your drug squad. I had a split

second, you know, to make my mind up as
to what I was going to do.

I just chucked the jugs, I was off.

I'm gone, I'm running.

If they caught me, I was potentially
facing a lifetime in jail.

So I was running for my life.

So now I'm running and I had no plan and
no idea where I was heading.

And my heart is literally just pounding
through my chest, to the point where I

think I'm actually going to have a heart
attack.

I just kept repeating to myself in my
head, I was like, I just can't get

I can't get caught.

I've gone into sort of like this
undergrowth, and I was getting scratched

over my face, my arms.

I've come out the other side, and, you
know, I'm in like a yard, and I've seen

hole in the fence.

I'm halfway through this hole. I think
I'm going to make it.

And then I hear this voice.

Stop! Don't move.

And at that point, I knew it was over.

I knew if I'd done any sort of sharp
movements and that, he's probably going

pull the trigger, you know, and I'd be
dead.

He then kicks me.

Now, before I know it, there's, like,
three or four of them. They're all just,

like, kicking me.

They marched me back to the vehicle.

Then I've seen O.

He betrayed me.

Massively, like probably the biggest
betrayal you could have in that

I was just thieving, I was fuming
inside.

I just wanted to grab hold of him.

But the future wasn't in my hands.

They give, you know, life sentences and,
you know, the death sentence for drugs

in Thailand.

And I am, like, completely, to be
honest.

So after that, I was taken to a safe
house.

You know, my mind just still going round
and round and doing somersaults.

I remember thinking, I'd come to
Thailand, you know, start a new life,

relationship back up with my dad, and
here I was. My dad would find out the

way when any word got around about what
had just happened.

You know, I was just left handcuffed to
this bed, and I was there all night.

And my body was craving ice.

I was going through, like, cold turkey,
basically.

There's only one place that I'll be
going. They call it a monkey house. A

hellhole, basically.

You know, they eventually put me back in
the truck.

And they drove me to a prison in
Bangkok.

I remember seeing the wall.

I just didn't know what was on the other
side. That was the scary bit.

Are they going to target me?

Is anything going to happen to me?

This could be my future for a very long
time.

I didn't know how long.

They basically said, take all your
clothes off.

It felt awful.

Your self -dignity's just gone.

They're sort of checking in my mouth, in
my genital area.

You just don't even feel like you're a
person anymore.

You know, you just feel like a bit of
meat. You know, you're just being

that way.

This place was just like, you know, a
living hellhole.

This was now my new reality.

The officer's taken me to the cell
block.

I've got all these prisoners, you know,
which is like type, as they say, for

foreigner.

And I remember looking over and seeing
two Thai inmates in front of this guard

who was holding a stick. The next
minute, he's just smashed it down on the

fingertips of the inmate. He's going,
smash, smash, smash.

No emotion at all.

At that point, I thought, there's no way
I want to be causing trouble in here,

that's for sure.

It was actually dark at that point, so I
was like, what now?

And then one of the guys, he was like,
you, you sit here.

It was just so crammed and, like, there
was just no space at all in there.

I was sleeping on a hard, cold floor in
a water bottle as my pillow.

It was just soul -destroying.

I felt really agitated. I was getting
the cold sweats because my body was

craving life.

Got this guy at the same point shouting
and, you know, he's having some sort of

nightmare.

That was the most depressed and helpless
that I've ever felt in my life, to be

honest, at that point.

Everything that I'd heard about what
these tired prisons were like, it was

and it was happening, you know, in front
of my eyes. And it's like your worst

nightmare.

So the next morning the guards have come
round and opened all the cell doors.

I didn't know where to go or what to do.

I thought I'd just keep my head down.

Out of nowhere, this guy had just come
flying by my shoulder.

He had what looked like a knife.

You know, everyone sort of shouting and
that.

All sort of flashed up in an instant.

I was just terrified.

I could

see that anything could happen at any

time very quickly.

And then, next minute, this guy came
over.

I realised it was the guy that was
having the nightmare.

He was like, you're de -icing, aren't
you?

You know, you're coming off the ice.

Oh, my God, I was like, thank God, like,
this guy is English.

He said, why are you here?

So I sort of told him and explained.

I asked him, I said, you know, what are
you in for? He said, drugs are the same.

Crack. Ecstasy, cocaine, crystal meth,
heroin.

Everything, mate.

I was like, how long have you got
sentenced to?

And he was like, it was initially going
to be life, and then they reduced it to

25 years.

I mean, I was in complete shock as well.
I was like, 25 years?

I just could not believe it. And I asked
him, I said, how long have you done

already? He said, two years.

I said, oh, you know, what's your name,
by the way?

He's like, it's Kurt.

He didn't look well, you know, he didn't
look a well person.

I just said, you know, what's wrong with
you?

He don't mind me asking.

And he said, I've got AIDS.

And I just thought... Don't worry about
that.

I was just completely shocked by that.

You know, something like that, it is
like a death sentence in there, you

There was no way, you know, he was ever
going to survive that prison sentence

with what he's got.

He showed me the rules and what to
expect from the prison.

He said,

in here, the currency is cigarettes.

If you want to do something, buy
something, you know, you use cigarettes.

I looked over and I thought, are they
women?

He said, no, no.

They're basically selling their body for
cigarettes.

Best advice, get yourself in a gang.

There was a lot of gangs in there.

They sort of called them a family.

Kurt said if you could get into one of
them, that would be the best way to have

protection and, you know, people have
got your back.

A uni -gang, which I was.

With all this violence going on around
me as well, you know, I knew I could be

killed at any minute.

After the first couple of days, I still
had no word from my dad.

He must know by now that I had been
arrested.

I thought, is he letting me see it out,
you know, being that sort of, that tough

dad? On the other hand, I was thinking,
you know, maybe my dad had given up on

me.

Maybe he thought there was, you know,
there was no helping me.

I felt so alone at that point.

Eventually... Kurt was put in the
hospital wing. I could just see him

deteriorating. It made me really realise
if I were to become ill, chances

are I wouldn't survive it.

So I'd been in prison for about a week
now.

and I was escorted up to the visiting
area.

To see my dad's face was probably the
most relief that I've ever felt.

The first thing he said to me was, like,
I'm so sorry I haven't come sooner. It

was only yesterday that I found out you
were here.

I said, like, don't worry about any of
that, Dad.

I'm just so glad that you're here now.

We had a long conversation, but I just
felt so, you know, ashamed of myself.

There was so many chances that I had and
that he'd given me and I just never

listened.

Eventually we said our goodbye, which is
obviously emotional, and then I

remember him walking away.

I'd have done anything to take back, you
know, what I'd done and what I'd got

involved with.

If I got sentenced like Kurt, which is
25 years, I doubted whether, you know,

I'd be able to get through that.

That moment was rock bottom for me.

Time moves so slowly when you're trapped
in a cage.

Each day feels like a month and each
month just feels like a year.

Wake up.

And then one morning I got news about my
friend Kurt that he died.

You take.

He never got the chance to see the
outside again.

Kurt dying made me think, I can't get
out of here and I don't know if I can do

this anymore.

The one lifeline that, you know, I
thought that I had was gone.

I've been in prison for six months when
I finally got sentenced.

I learned that it was only this one deal
that they got me on and that I was

being charged with.

I got five and a half years, but because
I pleaded guilty, they halved my

sentence to two years, nine months.

I was relieved that, you know, I wasn't
going to be in this place as long as,

you know, someone like Kurt for 25
years, but two years, nine months in a

like this, it's still going to be hard
for me to get through.

So I made the decision to try and keep
looking forward and not dwell on the

past, and I realised that I might
actually survive.

I started to throw myself into
everything, you know, just to keep busy.

My time was really coming along nicely.

So I started to do a bit of translating
for new prisoners that came in.

But the most positive moment in there
was doing the thing I love, which was

football.

And I'd make teams, do tournaments and
just do some exercise, get my body back

to good condition.

I used that to sort of push me forward
and keep me going.

There was light at the end of the
tunnel, even if it was hard to see, you

I knew it was there.

So I've been in prison for more than two
years now and I started to, you know,

count the days until my release.

Thais really love and respect their
royal family and every year on their

birthdays they give a royal amnesty to
some of the prisoners and give a

reduction to their prison sentence.

So all the inmates, they're waiting to
see if they might get this amnesty and

I got this amnesty, I'd get three months
off my sentence.

And then they gave it, and then the
whole place just erupted.

It was the best news I'd had.

This is it. It's actually happening, you
know. I'm getting out soon.

Finally, the day of my release came.

I can't even describe the feeling. It
was, you know, I'd had my freedom taken

away from me for so long.

Just seeing my dad, it's just the
biggest release ever.

It was over.

The feeling of getting, you know,
reunited with my dad, you know, that's

kept me going.

Probably one of the first time I've had,
you know, happy tears, I think.

I just felt like a completely different
person.

I was ready to move on with life now.

But I only had a small moment with my
dad because they escorted me to the

airport where I was deported back to the
UK.

Recently, my dad sold his bar and he
moved back to the UK. So I've now got

little piece that was missing for me
that I thought I might not ever get

Looking back, I was off the rails, you
know, I was just completely out of

control.

Being a dad myself, you know, I wouldn't
wish that on any dad, to be honest.

Fatherhood has taught me to see myself
through my father's eyes and the

that I made.

And I certainly won't be making them
again.

For me now, I'm in a real good place.

I'm a fire alarm engineer. You know, I
absolutely love it.

Prism taught me, you know, what really
mattered to me in life.

You think you're living the high life,
but it doesn't matter what you've got.

It's your family that are the most
important.